Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

"Sophia, you're really hurting me by accusing me like this." Ethan looked at her, clearly exasperated.

"I get it. Maybe because of what happened the last couple of times, you've gotten the idea that I'm easy to push around, right? So now you think you can just show up whenever you want, assuming that someone as soft as me won't dare do anything to you, huh?"

Ethan finally understood where Sophia's confidence was coming from.

It must've been because when Lila stood in for him, she acted too weak in front of Sophia, making her think Ethan was easy to bully.

"What... what are you going to do?" Sophia asked, her voice trembling as she watched Ethan suddenly stand up and walk toward her.

For a moment, she felt a strange sense of foreboding coming from him.

Ethan stopped in front of her, looked down, and said, "I remember you used to call me 'big brother' when you were little. So today, I'll treat you like a little sister and teach you a lesson."

"Don't do anything crazy! I-I'll call the cops!" Sophia warned, her eyes full of suspicion.

But Ethan wasn't actually going to do anything to her. After all, they barely knew each other. Sophia was just a former friend of his sister, or maybe a friend of a friend—one of those vague connections.

It's not like he was going to throw her over the couch and spank her or something.

So, he decided to take a different approach.

"Come with me," Ethan said.

He turned and started walking toward the stairs.

"Where are we going?" Sophia asked, instinctively standing up. But when she realized they were heading to an upstairs room, she hesitated.

"You wanted to know what's going on between me and Nessa, right? Well, I'll show you the truth."

"Of course, if you're too scared, you can always leave and go back home."

Hearing that, Sophia's rebellious side kicked in.

"Who said I'm scared!?"

With that, she followed Ethan upstairs, determined.

They arrived at Ethan's bedroom.

But just as she was about to step inside, she hesitated again. After a brief pause, she finally walked in.

Ethan gestured for her to sit in a chair while he went over to his computer.

"What are you trying to do?" Sophia asked, completely confused by his actions. Was there something on the computer?

But in the next second, she was shocked to find that her hands and feet were suddenly bound to the chair by some kind of mechanism. She was completely immobilized, her face filled with terror.

Ethan, seeing her panicked expression, couldn't help but laugh. Then he asked her a question.

"Sophia, do you know Kristen?"

"Huh?"

Sophia was caught off guard by the sudden question, not understanding why he was bringing this up.

Ethan continued, "Kristen was my ex-girlfriend. I dumped her, by the way."

"What?" Sophia was even more confused.

"What I'm saying is, if I wasn't interested in Kristen, do you really think I'd be into you? Stop flattering yourself. Or do you think you're somehow better than Kristen?"

"…"

Sophia finally understood what he was trying to say—he wasn't interested in her at all.

Her forehead immediately twitched in frustration, clearly furious.

Girls are funny like that. If Ethan had tried to take advantage of the situation, she would've felt insulted. But now that he was making it clear he wasn't interested in her at all, she felt even more humiliated.

"Kristen would never go for someone like you. Do you think I'm stupid?" Sophia gritted her teeth.

In response, Ethan pulled out his phone and showed her a picture of him and Kristen together. From the looks of it, Kristen had taken the lead in the photo, while Ethan's expression was one of reluctance.

Sophia was speechless.

Kristen, a huge celebrity, actually dated someone like Ethan? Was she blind!?

At this point, the computer had already booted up.

Ethan opened a futuristic video-sharing website and turned to Sophia, saying, "Brace yourself. You're about to see the truth of this world."

With that, he clicked on a video titled "Sophia's Epic Fails Compilation."

Sophia froze when she saw the title. Why was her name on the internet? And what did that title even mean?

She quickly found out.

The screen showed... her?

"Don't go! It's not like that! I really care about everyone, I really like you all!"

Sophia was stunned to see herself on the screen, along with Vanessa and Kylie.

Her mind went blank. She couldn't comprehend what she was watching. Why was she in this video? Why were Vanessa and Kylie there? And what was this scene? She had no memory of it.

On the screen, she saw herself rushing toward Vanessa, grabbing her wrist, desperately trying to stop her from leaving.

Even though Sophia didn't fully understand the context, she could feel the emotions of her on-screen self. If it were her in that situation, she would've done the same—she would've tried to make Vanessa stay.

But in the next moment, she saw Vanessa trying to shake off her grip.

And then, she dropped to her knees.

"What do I have to do for you to come back?"

"I'll do anything, as long as it's within my power!"

The Sophia watching the screen genuinely believed that this would move Vanessa.

But to her shock, Vanessa's response was cold.

"Do you even understand the weight of what you're saying?"

"You're just a student. Do you really think you can carry the burden of someone else's life?"

"'I'll do anything'—those are heavy words. Don't say things you can't follow through on."

Then, the Vanessa on the screen looked at her with an icy gaze, one that seemed to pierce through the screen and stare directly at the real Sophia.

"You're so self-centered. All you ever think about is yourself."

That line didn't just hit the Sophia on the screen—it felt like a dagger to the heart of the real Sophia watching.

"It's not like that..." Sophia muttered in disbelief, her voice barely audible. She wasn't sure if she was talking to the Vanessa on the screen or just trying to convince herself.

She didn't care about the fact that she had knelt down. What hurt was that, despite giving her all, Vanessa had responded with such cold indifference.

Dazed, she turned her head toward Ethan, as if seeking some kind of explanation.

She wanted to know what this video was, what it all meant.

But Ethan didn't answer her. He had already said this was a lesson.

Instead, he dragged the progress bar back to the beginning. They had just watched the raw version—now it was time to watch it again, this time with commentary and subtitles.